Sleeve journal for railway equipment



Fel'o 27, 1951 1. E. cox 2,543,154

SLEEVE JOURNAL FOR RAILWAY EQUIPMENT Filed Jan. 28, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet l azzm MM Feb. 27, 1951 I. E. cox 2,543,154

SLEEVE JOURNAL FOR RAILWAY EQUIPMENT Filed Jan. 28, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 27, 1951 l. E. cox

SLEEVE JOURNAL FOR RAILWAY EQUIPMENT 3 Sheets-Sheet- 3 Filed Jan. 28, 1949 Patented Feb. 27, 1951 SLEEVE JOURNAL FOR RAILWAY EQUEPMENT Isaac Eugene Cox, Kirkwood, Mo., assignor to American Brake Shoe Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application January 28, 1949, Serial No. 73,337

8 Claims.

This invention relates to journals for railway wheels and the like and particularly to sleeved journals affording replaceable wearing surfaces for such journals.

According to conventional railway practice, it is the custom to aiford projecting journals at the ends of the axle so that these journals are disposed outwardly of the planes of the wheels that are mounted on the axle, and these journals are arranged to be disposed beneath and in supporting relationship with respect to the babbitt-lined journal bearings that are afforded in the journal boxes of the railway car. The form and dimensions of the journal boxes, the journal bearings and of the bearing surfaces of the journals are in practice relatively well standardized so as to facilitate upkeep and replacement in respect to the railway equipment. The journals are arranged to cooperate with the journal bearings not only to afford the desired rotative cooperation, but also to limit endwise displacement of the journal boxes with relation to the axle, such endwise cooperation being attained by engagement of outwardly facing journal fillets on the journal with the rounded inner end edge surfaces of the journal bearings. Relatively rigid limits of permissible wear in such journals have been established in the interests of safety and operating eficiency. Thus one one-half inch reduction in journal diameter is permissible, while, as to fillet wear on such journals, a total wear in the two fillets in an endwise direction of but eleven-sixteenths'of an inch is all that is allowable.

These limits have been established primarily to prevent excessive starting and running friction and to minimize the possibility of waste grabs where waste from the bottom of the journal box tends to follow undersized journals into wedged relation between the journal andthe journal bearing. Such waste grabs are recognized not only as a cause of interrupted lubrication and excessive wear, but also as one cause of hot boxes.

According to the standard practice now followed, the wearing surfaces of the journals are afforded as integral parts of the axle upon which the wheels are mounted, and this, of course, makes it necessary to replace the entire axle when the bearing surfaces of the journals become unduly worn. Such complete replacement of the axles is relatively costly. This objection to the use of journals of the aforesaid character has been recognized, and efforts have been made to afford replaceable bearing surfaces on such railway journals. So far as I am aware, the various proposals that have been made in this regard have never met with any degree of acceptance, and this, I believe, is due to the excessive cost of the arrangements heretofore proposed as well as the reduction in the strength of the journals, which was inherent in the arrangements that were thus proposed.

In view of the foregoing, it is the primary object of the present invention to enable replaceable journal bearing surfaces to be afforded on railway and like equipment and to enable this to be accomplished in such a way that the replaceable elements may be readily mounted and removed, and may be associated with the axles in such a way that the requisite strength in the journals is preserved.

Other and more specific objects of the present invention are to enable replaceable bearing sleeves for railway journals and the like to be readily and easily put in place in such a way that the bearing surfaces are concentric with the axes of the axles upon which arey are mounted, and to enable a removable journal sleeve to be afforded which will be moved into the desired concentric relationship as an incident to the clamping of the sleeve in position on the axle.

Another object is to enable removable bearing sleeves of the aforesaid character to be associated with railway journals in such a way that the bearing sleeves may be removed and replaced in the field and at any point where facilities are available for removing axles from cars, thereby to avoid the necessity for returning the axle to a shop for repair or refinishing. More specifical- 1y, it is an object of the invention to so form bearing sleeves for railway journals that such bearing sleeves may readily be removed and replaced from the axles without need for special or elaborate equipment or tools.

Another object of the invention is to afford a readily replaceable journal sleeve embodying radial bearing surfaces as well as a journal fillet surface, and an object related to the foregoing is to enable a dust guard seat to be embodied in such a replaceable element in such a manner as to facilitate the attainment of high strength in the axle upon which the replaceable element is to be mounted.

In prior structures wherein efforts have been made to utilize removable journal sleeves, resort has been had to relatively thin sleeves, cylindrical on both the inner and outer surfaces thereof, and put in place on the ends of the axle by shrinking the sleeves onto a cylindrical surface afforded on the projecting end of the axle. Where such a structure has been used, the shrinking operation, in order to enable the sleeve to be slipped into place over the cylindrical stub end of the axle, has required that the sleeve be heated to a relatively high degree, and when such sleeve has been put in place on the end of the axle, and by contraction has assumed its desired fit about the axle, the ultimate diameter of the exterior bearing surface of the sleeve has been determined, not by the accuracy of original manufacture of the sleeve, but rather by the accuracy of form and dimension of the axle stub upon which the sleeve has been placed. In view of the foregoing, it is a further object of the present invention to enable a journal sleeve to be put in place on the projecting end of the axle in such a way as to attain the advantages of a shrink fit without altering the ultimate maximum diameter of the bearing sleeve. Objects related to the foregoing are to enable a removable bearing sleeve to be so formed and related with respect to the axle that a shrink fit may be obtained without the necessity for unduly heating and expanding the sleeve, and to enable such removable bearing sleeves to be made in an extremely rigid form such that the diameter thereof cannot be objectionably varied or changed in the course of a sleevemounting operation.

Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which, by way of illustration, show a preferred embodiment and the principles thereof and what I now consider to be the best mode in which I have contemplated applying those principles. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as described by those skilled in the art without departin from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a railway axle equipped with the sleeved journal of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the journal sleeve taken along the line 22 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the outer end of the journal sleeve as viewed from the left in Fig.

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of the inner end of the journal sleeve as viewed from the right in Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view illustrating the journal sleeve in its operative position on one I- end of a railway axle;

Fig. 6 is an elevational view of the outer or lefthand end of the assembly illustrated in Fig. 5;

Fig. '7 is a sectional view constituting an enlarged portion of the structure shown in Fig. l; and

Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially along the line 88 of Fig. 7.

For purposes of disclosure, the invention is herein illustrated as embodied in a railway axle ID that is operatively associated at its opposite ends with conventional journal boxe II through the use of sleeved journals I2 embodying the features of the present invention. The axle I0 has conventional wheel seats I3 formed thereon and defining the locations of wheels W that are associated with the wheel seats I 3 in the conventional manner. It is outwardly of the wheel seats I3 that the axle is conventionally associated with the journal boxes I i, and under the present invention,

the projecting outer ends of the axle III, in the portions thereof that ordinarily constitute the journals of the axle, are formed as gradually tapered mounting stubs I5 upon which the journal sleeve I2 is mounted so that these journal sleeves I2 may cooperate with the elements within the journal box in the same way as the usual journals of such a railway axle.

The journal sleeves I2 are, under the present invention, arranged to cooperate with the conventional and standardized components of the usual journal box II, and as will be evident in Figs. '7 and 8 of the drawings, such a journal box II includes a bottom wall IIB that is arcuate in form, and side walls IIS which extend upwardly and are joined by a top wall IIT. The top wall IIT is arranged to be seated against and secured to an element It of the truck in any conventional way, and the inner end of the journal box is closed by a wall I IW in which an aperture I? is provided to afford clearance through which the end of the axle may extend into the journal box. The inner wall IIW of the journal box II has a downwardly opening slot I8 formed therein to receive a conventional dust guard I9 which surrounds and cooperates with the journal in a contacting relationship in accordance with standard practice. The outer end of the journal box II has an opening 28 formed therein which is normally closed by a journal box lid (not shown) that is pivoted on an axis 2| as shown in Fig. '7. In the top of the journal box a conventional journal bearing 22 is mounted so as to face downwardly and rest upon the upper surface of the journal of the axle, and this journal bearing 22 is accurately located in the journal box by conventional means including vertical positioning webs 23 and a positioning wedge 24 disposed between the journal bearing 22 and the top wall HT of the journal box. The journal bearing 22 is accurately located in the journal box in an endwise direction by a flange 22F formed at its inner end so as to engage the inner end of the wedge 24, and it should be noted that the inner end edge of the babbitt liner 22B of the journal bearing is provided with a rounded edge 22E for cooperation with the usual outwardly facing filleted surface of the conventional journal. In the use of such journal boxes, the lower. portion of the journal box is filled with waste 25, and a supply of oil in this waste 25 is transmitted by a wick effect to the lower surface of the journal, thereby to be carried upwardly as the journal rotates in contact with the babbitt liner 22B of the journal bearing 22.

Under and in accordance with the present invention, the journal sleeve I2 is mounted on the mounting stub I5 so as to cooperate in an accurately determined relationship with the journal bearing 22, its rounded end surface 22E, and with the dust guard I9, and this is attained in such a way that the journal sleeve I2 may readily be removed at most any place where equipment is afforded for removing axles from the truck. Moreover, under the present invention, the journal sleeve I2 is associated with the mounting stubs of the axle I0 in such a way that the desired concentric relationship between the axle and the journal sleeves may readily be attained, and when so mounted, the journal sleeves cooperate with the usual journal box and journal bearings withsame time enabling the mounting and dismounting operations to be readily and easily performed.

To this end, the mounting stubs '15 have a gradually tapered surface I5T which at its inner end is joined to the larger diameter wheel seat it by a gradually tapered fillet I5F that is disposed in substantially the same endwise position that is usually occupied by the conventional dust guard seat. At its outer end, the mounting stub has a reduced threaded portion [5A that is adapted to receive a nut I5N whereby the journal sleeve 12 may, as will hereinafter be described, be forced in an inward direction until it is properly seated upon the tapered surface |5T of the mountin stub [5. The nut [5N has a plurality of wrench-receiving notches [5B in its outer periphery so that the nut [5N may readily be tightened.

The journal sleeve l2 has a cylindrical outer surface I2C, and its inner surface is formed with a taper IZT that matches the taper I5T of the mounting stub 15. At its outer end, the journal sleeve W has an outwardly extending annular flange [2F that affords the usual collar, and the outer end is formed with an annular recess or rabbeted groove [2R to receive the nut I5N and afford an outwardly facing shoulder |2S against which the nut ISN may apply its inward force. At its inner end the journal sleeve 12 has an outwardly projecting annular flange 52A that affords a cylindrical dust guard seat IZB, and the cylindrical surface !2C is joined to the dust guard seat 1213 by a rounded journal fillet surface IZE which cooperates with the rounded end surface 22E of the journal bearing.

When the journal sleeve I2 is being put in position on the tapered surface [5T of the mouning stub IE, it is desirable that the location of the journal sleeve be determined by engagement of the tapered surfaces with each other and that there be no interference due to engagement of other surfaces. For this reason, the journal sleeve if has its inner end counterbored to afford a frusto-conical surface I 2G that is disposed radially inwardly from the dust guard seat I213, and the surface IZG is arranged, as will be evident in Fig. 5, so that it does not at any point the spacing of the wrench receiving notches I5B, thereby to enable the nut I5N to be locked in position by one of these set screws even though the other of the set screws may be lined with one of the notches I5B. As will be evident in Figs. 5 and 6, the length of the set screws I5L is less than the distance between the outer face of the flange [2F and the cylindrical surface of the groove IZR, and hence the outer ends of the set screws i5L may be disposed in protected positions inwardly of the outer surface of the flange EZF. This avoids any possibility that such set screws might pick up the waste 25 in the course of rotation of the axle Hi.

When a journal sleeve 12 is to be put in position on the mounting stub l5, the journal sleeve I 2 is heated and thereby expanded by placing the same in a container of boiling water, and after applying a substance such as chalk, white lead or the like, to the inner surface I2T of the journal sleeve l2, this sleeve is put in position and is clamped endwise into place by tightening of the nut I5N. Thus, when the journal sleeve I2 cools, it is firmly held in position on the mounting stub I5 by a combination of shrinkage pressure and endwise mechanical pressure that has been applied between the tapered surfaces IZT and |5T by the nut I5N. Through the use of a material such as chalk in the mounting operation, th removal of the journal is facilitated.

In the manufacture of the journal sleeve 12, the sleeve-like body thereof is originally formed by forging processes from a material such as a medium carbon steel, and is then annealed to relieve the forging stresses. The cylindrical bearing surface IZC, and the journal fillet surface IZE, are then hardened by heat treating so that these surfaces have a Brinell hardness of approximately 620. The body is then finished by conventional lathe operations to afford the various surfaces required, and the surfaces I20 and I2, as well as the internal mounting surface I2T, are then ground. With respect to the mounting stubs l5, the tapered surface thereof that is to engage the mounting surface I2T of the journal sleeve is also ground, and these grinding operations are held within relatively close tolerances so as to assure accuracy in the relationships of the assembled structure.

The journal sleeve that is thus afforded may, of course, be readily mounted in position on the mounting stubs 15 of an axle, and this is accomplished in such a way that the replacement of the journal sleeve may be effected at any point where facilities are available for removing the axle from the truck. Hence, the bearing surfaces of the journal and the journal fillet surfaces may be readily maintained within the permissible limits of wear, and the standards of safety and efficiency that are desirable in railway equipment may be more easily and economically maintained than heretofore.

It will also be evident that in the structure afforded by the present invention, the advantages of a shrink fit are attained in such a way that the final diameter of the bearing surface is not objectionably varied because of variations in the diameter of the stub upon which the bearing sleeve is mounted. This result is attained because the surfaces that are to be engaged by a r shrink fit are tapered, and in the endwise movement of the sleeve onto the axle stub while the sleeve is in its heated condition, the opposed surfaces are brought into a firm contact and the shrink fit is thus obtainable through the use of but a very slight heating of the bearing sleeve.

Thus, While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that this is capable of variation and modification, and I therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details set forth, but desire to avail myself of such changes and alterations as fall within the purview of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A journal sleeve adapted for detachable mounting on the projecting end of a railway axle and comprising asleeve-like body affording inner and outer ends and having an outer annular flange affording acollar at said outer end and an inner annular flange at said inner end affording an annular dust guard seat, said body having a cylindrical outer bearing surface extended be tween said flanges and having an annular journal fillet surface defined at the inner end of said cylindrical bearing surface by the adjacent side surface of said inner flange, said body having an inner mounting surface for engagement with the stub end of a railway axle, said outer end of said body having a rabbeted annular groove formed at the outer end of said mounting surface and radially inwardly of said collar to enclose a mounting nut for securing said sleeve on an axle, and a set screw extending radially through said collar for locking such a nut and of a length less than the radial distance between said groove and the outermost face of said collar.

2. A journal sleeve adapted for detachable mounting on the projecting end of a railway axle and comprising a sleeve-like body affording inner and outer ends and having an outer annular flange affording a collar at said outer end and "an inner annular flange at said inner end affording a peripheral dust guard seat, said body having a cylindrical outer bearing surface extended between said flanges and having an annular journal fillet surface defined at the inner end of said cylindrical bearing surface by the adjacent side surface of said inner flange, said body having an inner mounting surface of a gradually tapered frusto-conical form with the large end of said mounting surface disposed at substantially the same endwise location as said journal fillet surface, said body having an internal clearance surface formed between said larger end of said mounting surface and the inner end of said body and afforded as a frusto-conical surface of a substantially greater taper than said mounting surface and disposed radially inwardly with respect to said dust guard seat, said outer end of said body having a rabbeted annular groove formed at the outer end of said mounting surface and radially inwardly of said collar to enclose a mounting nut for securing said sleeve on an axle.

3. A journal sleeve adapted for detachable mounting on the projecting end of a railway axle and comprising a sleeve-like body affording inner and outer ends and having an outer annular flange affording a collar at said outer end and an inner annular flange at said inner end affording a peripheral dust guard seat, said body having a cylindrical outer bearing surface extended between said flanges and having an annular journal fillet surface defined at the inner end of said cylindrical. bearing surface by the adjacent side surface of said inner flange, said body having an inner mounting surface of a gradually tapered frusto-conical form with the larger end of said mounting surface disposed at substantially the same endwise location as said journal fillet surface, said body having an internal clearance surface formed between said larger end of said mounting surface and the inner end of said body and afforded as a frusto-conical surface of a substantially greater taper than said mounting surface and disposed radially inwardly with respect to said dust guard seat, said outer end of said body having a rabbeted annular groove formed at the outer end of said mounting surface and radially inwardly of said collar to enclose a mounting nut for securing said sleeve on an axle, and means carried by said collar in a protected relation and operable to lock such a nut in position.

4. A journal sleeve adapted for detachable mounting on the projectin end of a railway axle to afford a-journal surface and a journal fillet thereon and comprising a sleeve-like body affording inner and outer ends and having an outer annular flange affording a collar at said outer end and an inner annular flange at said inner end affording a peripheral dust guard seat, said body having a cylindrical outer bearing surface extended between said flanges and having an annular journal fillet surface defined at the inner end of said cylindrical bearing surface by the adjacent side surface of said inner flange, said body having an inner mounting surface of a gradually tapered frusto-conical form with the larger end of said mounting surface disposed at substantially the same endwise location as said journal fillet surface, said body havin an internal clearance surface formed between said larger end of said mounting surface and the inner end of said body and afforded as a frusto-conical surface of a substantially greater taper than said mounting surface and disposed radially inwardly with respect to said dust guard seat, said outer end of said body having a rabbeted annular groove formed at the outer end of said mounting surface and radially inwardly of said collar to enclose a mounting nut for securing said sleeve on an axle, and a set screw extending radially through said collar for locking such a nut and of a length less than the radial distance between said groove and the outermost face of said collar.

5. In a railway axle and journal assembly, an axle having a wheel seat and an outwardly tapered mounting stub extended beyond said seat and having a strengthening fillet at its point of juncture with said wheel seat, a journal sleeve comprising a sleeve-like body affording inner and outer ends and having an outer annular flange affording a collar at said outer end and an inner annular flange at said inner end affording a peripheral dust guard seat, said body having a cylindrical outer bearing surface extended between said flanges and having an annular journal fillet surface defined at the inner end of said cylindrical bearing surface by the adjacent side surface of said inner flange, said body having an inner mounting surface surrounding and seated on said tapered mounting stub and of a gradually tapered frusto-conical form complemental to said tapered mounting stub with the larger end of said mounting surface disposed at substantially the same endwise location as said journal fillet surface, said body having an internal clearance surface formed between said larger end of said mounting surface and the inner end of said body and afforded as a frusto-conical surface of a substantially greater taper than said mounting surface and disposed radially inwardly with respect to said dust guard seat and opposite but in spaced relation to said strengthening fillet, said outer end of said body having a rabbeted annular groove formed at the outer end of said mounting surface and radially inwardly of said collar to enclose a mounting nut for securing said sleeve on said stub, a mounting nut threaded onto the outer end of said mounting stub and disposed in said groove to clamp said sleeve in an endwise direction on said stub, and a set screw extending radially through said collar and locking said nut in position, said set screw being of a length less than the radial distance between said groove and the outermost face of said collar.

6. In a railway axle and journal assembly, an axle having a wheel seat and an outwardly tapered mounting stub extended beyond said seat and having a strengthening fillet at its point of juncture with said wheel seat, a journal sleeve comprising a sleeve-like body affording inner and outer ends and having an outer annular flange affording a collar at said outer end and an inner annular flange at said inner end affording a peripheral dust guard seat, said body having a cylindrical outer bearing surface extended between said flanges and having an annular journal fillet surface defined at the inner end of said cylindrical bearing surface by the adjacent side surface of said inner flange, said body having an inner mounting surface surrounding and seated on said tapered mounting stub and of a gradually tapered frusto-conical form complemental to said tapered mounting stub with the larger end of said mounting surface disposed at substantially the same endwise location as said journal fillet surface, said body having an internal clearance surface formed between said larger end of said mounting surface and the inner end of said body and disposed radially inwardly with respect to said dust guard seat and opposite but in spaced relation to said strengthening fillet, said outer end of said body having a rabbeted annular groove formed at the outer end of said mounting surface and radially inwardly of said collar to enclose a mounting nut for securing said sleeve on said stub, a mounting nut threaded onto the outer end of said mounting stub and disposed in said groove to hold said sleeve in position on said stub, and means on said sleeve effective to lock said nut in position.

7. In a railway axle and journal assembly, an axle having a wheel seat and an outwardly tapered mounting stub extended beyond said seat, a journal sleeve comprising a sleeve-like body affording inner and outer ends and having an outer annular flange affording a collar at said outer end and an inner annular flange at said inner end affording a peripheral dust guard seat, said body having a cylindrical outer bearing surface extended between said flanges and having an annular journal fillet surface defined at the inner end of said cylindrical bearing surface by the adjacent side surface of said inner flange, said body having an inner mounting surface surrounding and seated on said tapered mounting stub and of a gradually tapered frusto-conical form complemental to said tapered mounting stub with the larger end of said mounting surface disposed at substantially the same endwise location as said journal fillet surface, said outer end of said body having a rabbeted annular groove formed at the outer end of said mounting surface and radially inwardly of said collar to enclose a mounting nut for securing said sleeve on said stub, a mounting nut threaded onto the outer end of said mounting stub and disposed in said groove, and a set screw extending radially through said collar and locking said nut in position, said set screw being of a length less than the radial distance between said groove and the outermost face of said collar.

8. A journal sleeve adapted for detachable mounting on the projecting end of a railway axle and comprising a sleeve-like body affording inner and outer ends and having an inner annular flange at said inner end affording a peripheral dust guard seat, said body having a cylindrical outer bearing surface and having an annular journal fillet surface defined at the inner end of said cylindrical bearing surface by the adjacent side surface of said inner flange, said body having an inner mounting surface of a gradually tapered frusto-conical form with the larger end of said mounting surface disposed at substantially the same endwise location as said journal fillet surface, said body having an internal clearance surface formed between said larger end of said mounting surface and the inner end of said body and afforded as a frustoconical surface of a substantially greater taper than said mounting surface and disposed radially inwardly'with respect to said dust guard seat, said outer end of said body having a rabbeted annular groove formed at the outer end of said mounting surface to enclose a mounting nut for securing said sleeve on an axle, and means carried by said outer end of said sleeve in a protected relation and operable to lock such a nut in position.

ISAAC EUGENE COX.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,389,965 .Mooney Sept. 6, 1921 2,018,055 Dahlstrom Oct. 22, 1935 

